2K boss hits out at "crappy" Wii titles

Must think Carnival Games is all right then?

The boss of the company which brought us Carnival Games (GameRankings rating: 58) has claimed the Wii software market is overrun with "crappy titles".

"Where people go wrong in the casual market is that, while the development costs are exploding on the casual side, they're treating the Wii like the old PC market - making cheap, accessible games," Christoph Hartmann told MCV. Hartmann, of course, is head of 2K, the publisher behind titles such as Go, Diego, Go!: Great Dinosaur Rescue (55).

"They think if they make ten titles and two are hits, they will finance the other eight," added Hartmann, presumably not referring to 2K's own Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (43).

"But they forget these eight crappy titles will flood the market and will lead to problems in terms of production - and upset retailers," continued Hartmann, who was probably not talking about Carnival Games: Mini-Golf (47).

Hartmann went on to bemoan the fact it's harder for non-licensed titles to stand out with so much competition. "There’s far too much stuff in the Wii market [now] and it’s hard to shine," he observed. "While the Wii is the strongest growing console, it's a risk not to have well-known brands in your games."

2K's recent releases include Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess (53), released for DS, PS2 and Wii on 5th December.

Comments (84) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • UncleLou #1 3 years ago

  • ryohazuki1983 #2 3 years ago

    lol at all the gameranking links.

  • LockeTribal #3 3 years ago

  • Santino #4 3 years ago

    good lord Coin-Op grow up man, 2 posts out of the first four are you trolling.

    lol at the article the links made it perfect get an interview with this guy.
  • peteb #5 3 years ago

    Yet again Ellie you have me almost ruining another work keyboard by forcing me to spit out tea while I read that lol.
  • Eraysor #6 3 years ago

    The only Wii game I have ever played to completion is Metroid Prime 3. Every other game has been terrible.
  • Sir_TimAlot #7 3 years ago

    He's made a good point....in silly circumstances.
  • Eighthours #8 3 years ago

    Ellie, you always make me laugh. Great stuff. :)
  • DFawkes #9 3 years ago

    "Hey Pot! Hey! yeah, I'm takin' to you! Don't try and ignore me, I know you can hear me! It's me, Kettle! You, my friend, are black! Most likely due to being filled with tea or coffee, which when placed in a vessal such as you appears black! Yeah, you suck."

    If he doesn't like this crap, why doesn't he stop? Is it because these titles make money, perhaps?
  • varsas #10 3 years ago

  • bdc #11 3 years ago

    Fucking hypocrite. lmao.
  • booner #12 3 years ago

    He is a hypocrit, but he is right.
  • smernicki #13 3 years ago

    this is a great article, it made me laugh in the real world
  • Dan234 #14 3 years ago

    He's upset because other publishers have flooded the market with the same shit his has, meaning he can't sell his shit any more unless he buys an expensive Dora the Explorer licence, bless.
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/09 @ 15:12
  • viper_h #15 3 years ago

    "The only Wii game I have ever played to completion is Metroid Prime 3. Every other game has been terrible. "

    Same here. Never even finished Galaxy, even though it was damn fun. Twilight Princess doesn't count because it's a GC game at its heart :p
  • mcwildcard #16 3 years ago

    I'm gonna stick my neck out and venture that 2K are one of the guys who have you on their shit list?
    Articles pointing out hypocrisy are alright in my book!
  • ISmoke #17 3 years ago

    Who can honnestly say they liked the WII for more than a day anyway?
  • Dan234 #18 3 years ago

    Who can honnestly say they liked the WII for more than a day anyway?

    Me. I am Nintendo's only customer who has played their Wii for more than a day.
  • Popzeus #19 3 years ago

    Loving your work there Ellie :D
  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #20 3 years ago

    Haha. Superb. Great article, Ellie.
  • Rtrdo #21 3 years ago


    Me and the mrs. We play the Wii more than any other console we've owned.
  • Eraser #22 3 years ago

    best news item ever :D
  • eddiep #23 3 years ago

    Ellie, how could you forget MLB Superstars, which at 28/100 is the champion of 2K Games ?

    Wii-wise, there are a few good games nobody played:
    Zack & Wiki
    No More Heroes
    Lost Winds
    Blast Works
    Endless Ocean
    ...errr, that's about it.
  • mingster #24 3 years ago

    Linking to the gamerankings rubbish scores was as subtle as a kick in the face.
  • dudefella #25 3 years ago

    Oh Ellie, leave the poor man be

    No actually, F that. If he's going to be a total hypocrite, then he deserves it.
  • optimusprym8 #26 3 years ago

    The only good thing about Wii is the idiots on eBay who pay over the odds for them.

    cha-ching
  • kangarootoo #27 3 years ago

    He reminds me of me in the post office queue, thinking "Who are all these twats in front of me in the queue who are holding me up getting to the counter? Haven't they got anything better to do?".

    It also reminds me a bit of me stuck in traffic on a motorway.... or me shopping in a really busy street.
  • avatarirl #28 3 years ago

    brilliantly juxtaposed.

    News by Ellie Gibson: (94)
  • rotmm #29 3 years ago

    I didn't look at who posted the news, but as I was reading it I just knew it was Ellie.

    Gotta love her, she always brings out a smile.
  • Sean.Aaron #30 3 years ago

    Ah, that was brilliant. Please do a real interview with him; if you have to remove this article to get to him via stealth it would be worth it. Paxman-style!

    Oh and "Me. I am Nintendo's only customer who has played their Wii for more than a day. "

    I am as well, the only person with a Wii who has played it for more than a day; no one else has. Honestly.
  • Skywise #31 3 years ago

  • DaveTheHutt #32 3 years ago

    Slow news day? Surely the only reason EG is resorting to quoting from MCV which I got, oooh, last Friday.
  • andymale #33 3 years ago

    Excellent article. Maybe next time this gaming guru will think twice before talking.
  • DutchDemons #34 3 years ago

    k, so he is a hypocrite...he's also right.

    and we all know and accept this as fact...why is this news? Isn't this said in every console-related thred on all forums? and don't we ALL agree that this is the case?
  • IronCladChicken #35 3 years ago

    I am also Nintendo's only customer who has played their Wii for more than a day.
  • Kiigan #36 3 years ago

    When we're all finished being terribly clever... Carnival Games is actually pretty decent.
  • ManicDrunkMonk #37 3 years ago

  • schnide #38 3 years ago

    Great article!

    Still, they did bring us Bioshock.
  • sneetch #39 3 years ago

    @DFawkes
    "Hey Pot! Hey! yeah, I'm takin' to you! Don't try and ignore me, I know you can hear me! It's me, Kettle! You, my friend, are black! Most likely due to being filled with tea or coffee, which when placed in a vessal such as you appears black! Yeah, you suck."

    If he doesn't like this crap, why doesn't he stop? Is it because these titles make money, perhaps?


    Dammit DFawkes, I wanted to do the 'Kettle hits out at "black" pot' thing. ;(

    Oh well. Next time.
  • Capn #40 3 years ago

    I might have pee'd a little.
    Good job 2K. Such out standing games n' all...

    I love how any article on the Wii leads to flame wars. Good times right there.
  • sneetch #41 3 years ago

    @DutchDemons
    "k, so he is a hypocrite...he's also right.

    and we all know and accept this as fact...why is this news? Isn't this said in every console-related thred on all forums? and don't we ALL agree that this is the case?"

    Yes he's right and yes he's a hypocrite the ironic thing is that he doesn't appear to realise it. That's what we're pointing and laughing at. Well, that's what I'm pointing and laughing at at least.

    It's the whole "Or how will you tell your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye;' and behold, the beam is in your own eye?" thing.
  • ocean #42 3 years ago

    I LOL'd at this piece of news. Really well played.
  • Mr-Bozzey #43 3 years ago

    lol loved the articale !

    as for the wii .. well ive played it like 7/8 times and i was drunk for 1 of them and that was probably the most fun i had with it.

    mate from the army came home on leave went on a night out came in 3am pissed as a fart fired up super mario cart rolled on the floor laughing for hours... next morning hung over tryed it again to cheer us up pretty much set the thing on fire.

    thats probs it while a great thing for when your hammered and wont remember it all its not great playing in sober infact its quite painful and made my hangover last atleast 2 more days.
  • secombe #44 3 years ago

    I am also Nintendo's only customer who has played their Wii for more than a day. That technically makes me a "casual who is ruining gaming", a "kid", and not to mention many many swear words around here, but never mind, apparently being the same as everybody else is the new cool.

    In fact I've had mine since UK release, I even still play Wii Play.
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/09 @ 18:04
  • sneetch #45 3 years ago

    @secombe
    "I am also Nintendo's only customer who has played their Wii for more than a day. That technically makes me a "casual who is ruining gaming", a "kid", and not to mention many many swear words around here, but never mind, apparently being the same as everybody else is the new cool.

    In fact I've had mine since UK release, I even still play Wii Play."

    That's a nice persecution complex from out of nowhere that you've got there. I particularly like your proposal that you're somehow being rebellious by liking the Wii whilst those who don't like it (a position that you've apparently psychically determined that everyone else shares) are all identical drones of some sort.

    That's some damn fine work there.
  • Tomo #46 3 years ago

  • smelly #47 3 years ago

    Who can honnestly say they liked the WII for more than a day anyway?

    Well speaking for myself..

    I for one DIDNT spend the whole of christmas playing "World Of Goo" and I HAVENT been spending the last week addicted to "De Blob".. And my wii HASNT been getting more use than my 360 since i finished "Dead Space".

    .. So yeah.. perhaps you're right...


    (In the land of trolls)
  • smelly #48 3 years ago

    Also Lets not forget that 2K made "bioshock" (10/10 on this site..)

  • FaceOmeter #49 3 years ago

    Ellie - beautiful piece of journalism right there

    Smelly - Bioshock is good! Because you disagree with me you must be wrong, and I'm never reading this site again. Also the Wii is for little girls, and I have a hat made of solid gold
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/09 @ 18:49
  • Rev.StuartCampbell #50 3 years ago

    The fact that Carnival Funfair Games is actually really well made, and was the 10th best-selling game on any format in the UK last year, kinda fucks up this self-satisfied sneerfest a bit.
  • beckyh #51 3 years ago

    They might be shitty games but people are buying them in their millions.

    Believe it or not, sales of Wii games last year made up almost a quarter of ALL game sales across ALL consoles (including handheld).

    Shit games or not, Nintendo are obviously doing something right.

    Source: [link url=htt p://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7814272.stm
    ]http://ne ws.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/78...[/link]
  • redneon Verified Programmer, SUMO Digital #52 3 years ago

    @beckyh:

    As far as their business and their shareholders are concerned they're doing the "right" thing because they're making fuck loads of money. But they're doing this at the expense of (in my opinion) degrading the games industry.
  • beckyh #53 3 years ago

    Redneon,

    I agree that it is to the expense of the games industry but unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it. Until people stop buying the tat and make a stand against it, the shitty games will continue to flow.

    As far as Nintendo goes they are on to a winning formula. As far as the average Joe Bloggs is concerned they would not know a decent game if it did a double jump stomp on their head.
  • m0thr4 #54 3 years ago

    "Carnival Games" has sold 2.95m copies worldwide, so I imagine he is pretty pleased with it.

    GameRankings ratings mean absolutely nothing when it comes to Nintendo Wii titles. They are simply the average of a bunch of scores awarded by the sort of people who are prepared to review video games for a living... people who are about as far away from the target audience of the Wii as you can get.

    (EDIT: Corrected sales figure above after checking it on VG Chartz)
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/09 @ 20:27
  • SpeedyThing #55 3 years ago

    If you look at the history of cinema you will se that the initial reaction to sound was that it was cheap, tacky, distasteful and a temporary novelty...

    and in some ways it was. Sure, the odd film came along that used it properly (the Jazz Singer for example) but most really were still grasping at how to use it.

    Now this doesn't excuse Mr. 2K, but everyone who moans about the "degrading" of the industry should also take into consideration that not only are Ninty exploring spaces previously mostly untouched, but they are bringing new gamers into the fold as they do.
  • Kiigan #56 3 years ago

    Well said Stu Campbell.
  • beckyh #57 3 years ago

    To Speedything,

    There is absolutely nothing wrong in bringing new gamers, young and old, into gaming. Gaming is not an exclusive club for a few and everyone should be welcome, like you say.

    The problem is the quality of the games being churned out week in week out. The lack of quality in the games will eventually bleed out into the more serious gaming sector and we could end up seeing reiterations of Brain Training or Sight Training on the 360 and PS3 because developers see them as big sellers. The future of gaming should not be tat, it should be good quality games that appeal to all.
    Edited by 1 at 14/01/09 @ 20:44
  • SpeedyThing #58 3 years ago

    beckyh - I'm not saying that I like loads of tat. And I agree with the general sentiment that there is FAR too much of it.

    But this is a developing artform, and as is always the case with new media (or changes to existing media), everyone jumps in on the hype - overpopulates the market with rushed out rubbish - and then after a while the quality starts to rise.

    You only have to look at the history of books, comics, film and TV to see what I mean. Film is possibly the closest example, and I like to think that games are approximately at where film was when sound was invented...

    And to be honest what's wrong with Big Brain coming to 360? If someone buys it and enjoys it then that's a good thing, and there'll still be lots of 'serious' games that will be worth a look at. In fact, 2008 arguably was one of the best years for games ever - both tat and great. Everyone wins!

    Edited by 1 at 14/01/09 @ 21:04
  • merkdot #59 3 years ago

    With averages like that, 2K are probably the second best developer on the Wii.

    It's not their fault it's shit.
  • secombe #60 3 years ago

    That's a nice persecution complex from out of nowhere that you've got there.

    The Wii has been attacked from every angle and then some, I wonder why people are generally so fearful of it. If it's not the casual masses ruining "their" hobby, it's the lack of game sales (which they can't use now the stats tell a different story), the lack of games, the "waggle-ness", it just goes on and on. Each review or news article brings them all out of the woodwork so they can proudly state that they never played it, it got dusty, they sold it, it's "for girls and kids" etc etc...the console that it's cool to hate. If it really is the irrelevance that so many claim it to be, why can't they ignore it?

    Entertaining to read, but getting a little dull now.
  • smelly #61 3 years ago

    @FaceOMeter

    >Bioshock is good!

    I know...

    That was the point.
  • canIdoyabombsforya #62 3 years ago

    Last one to sell their Wii is a spaz

    ;)

    Still the only console you can get away with playing xmas day (if you have a girlfriend) though.
  • smelly #63 3 years ago

    "
    GameRankings ratings mean absolutely nothing when it comes to Nintendo Wii titles. They are simply the average of a bunch of scores awarded by the sort of people who are prepared to review video games for a living... people who are about as far away from the target audience of the Wii as you can get. "


    +1

    Thus the reason why an average middle of the road "seen it all before" shooter with a nice story is gauranteed a huge score..

    And something which isn't.. is sneered at.


  • merkdot #64 3 years ago

    meh, shooters are for knuckle draggers
  • spudsbuckley #65 3 years ago

    'The fact that Carnival Funfair Games is actually really well made, and was the 10th best-selling game on any format in the UK last year, kinda fucks up this self-satisfied sneerfest a bit.'

    I agree with Stu for once :D

    This news item is shite, pretty much like anything Ellie's written recently. It's an article from last Fridays MCV (EG reporting things days after everyone else again) with snide comments added to it.

    Amazing journalism.

    Seriously EG fire the 'quirky' hole and hire a real videogame journalist.
  • butler` #66 3 years ago

    pot kettle black etc etc

    he's still right. :)
  • Chalee #67 3 years ago

    But the wii is also home to arty stuff like no more heroes and world of goo. That kind of screws up your argument.
  • FogHeart #68 3 years ago

    Who can honnestly say they liked the WII for more than a day anyway?

    Okami tells me I'm 23 hours 47 minutes into the adventure. I hope I can wrap it up in thirteen minutes before a layer of dust magically gathers on the console and a bloke rings my doorbell saying he was the successful bidder.
  • tufty #69 3 years ago

    @Rev. Stuart Campbell:

    Sorry, have you played Carnival Games? That has got to be the absolute shittest experience I've personally had on the Wii (though there are worse I am sure!). Really, it is the flimsiest title with creepy, lazy animation and "play" that consists of a hand shake every couple of seconds for about 4 times, then onto the next ugly game. I feel sorry for people who bought that.

    I must say though, this Wii hating is old. We get it - lots of shovelware. Same for PS2. You have to look for diamonds in the rough. Here are the releases from 2008 that I bought:

    Boom Blox
    De Blob
    No More Heroes
    Okami
    Pinball Hall of Fame: Williams
    Super Smash Brothers Brawl

    Sorry, no junk or shovelware there. Not enough new titles to sustain a non-casual gamer's interest? Sure, I'll buy that, but then all of us serious gamers usually have something else to play with too!
  • FenderMaster #70 3 years ago

    I think Ellie is trying to subliminally tell us something, but I can't for the life of me see what. Spell it out woman!!
  • BonzoBanana #71 3 years ago

    I wonder if part of the reason for so much shovelware on the wii is simply the very low specs of the console. I mean with the most inspired graphics and optimised code its still going to look pretty weak compared to a 360 or ps3 game. I just have this picture in my head of programmers not wanting to work on it because ultmately its less powerful than the original xbox in many ways and is so retro in its abilities. All you have with the wii is an interesting and novel controller. Its seems 95% of wii games could have been achieved on the dreamcast visually. When you think about it the dreamcast had 8meg video memory compared to the wii's 2meg frame buffer and 1meg texture cache so its not that surprising. Nintendo shoehorned an extra 64meg of memory into the wii over the gamecube yet you wonder why they bothered. Most wii games would probably work quite well in the main 24meg of memory and not need anymore.

    Also I don't know if the same is still true but in the past Nintendo would charge huge licensing fees to allow games on its systems which cuts down on how much can be spent on development for third party publishers meaning only nintendo or developers it owns can really afford to spend much on developing games.

  • CB.Gamestation #72 3 years ago

    "The fact that Carnival Funfair Games is actually really well made, and was the 10th best-selling game on any format in the UK last year, kinda fucks up this self-satisfied sneerfest a bit."

    Well....to be honest....many high street retailers *cough* were bundling a couple of games with Wii's at the £179.99 price point of which Carnival Games was one. I'd imagine a massive amount of sales were including those figures as they are technically sales :)

    Just like how in some retailers Little Big Planet on PS3 sold more copies in hardware bundles than solus stock :)
  • Ryze #73 3 years ago

    Excellent article.

    Glad I held off buying a Wii and Wii Fit at Chrimbo.

    /pats stomach belly
  • CaptianScarlet #74 3 years ago

    Booo to Carnival Games!

    Played it at a mates house and saw the corruption a bad party game can cause. Loads of drunk people were playing it and apparently enjoying it. However, some drunk people enjoy hitting people and obviously being drunk doesn't make hitting people right!

    I bet that a load of those folks that thought they enjoyed it ran out and bought it and tried to pretend that it was still as fun. Carnival Games is probably responsible for turning a lot of people into alcoholics as they tried to search for that "fun" feeling again while playing it.

    In defense of the Wii there are still a fair few great games that are worth playing. I'd list them but it's easier to go to gamerankings.com and just buy all the games that got over 80% which to be fair wont seem like a lot amongst all the sh!t but will certainly keep most people (even those that imagine that the title "Hardcore" is real) playing for a while.

    (I'm currently playing Fable 2, Rockband 2 and Metroid corruption (yeah a bit late I know but what a game!))
  • drumbaby #75 3 years ago

    I'd have said they were fucking shitty, not crappy, but there you go.
  • HuggyAtHome #76 3 years ago

    I'm really confused - even though I have a 360 and a PS3 I still play on the Wii. Mario Kart, World of Goo, Orbient, Boom Blox, Lost Winds and sometimes even Wii Sports. I enjoy them too.

    There can't be that many of us still using the little white slab can there?

    Do I need help?
  • Dan234 #77 3 years ago

    The arthouse, more discerning PS3/XBox connoiseurs of quality will always love their Bioshocks and Portals, but Nintendo are gonna rake in way more cash with their gaming equivalents of "Meet Dave" and "Fred Claus".

    Yes, PS3 and XBox consoles, unavailable in any high street, are lovingly hand-crafted in a small warehouse in an industrial estate in deepest in Swansea and delivered in person to said connosieurs of gaming by video and paid for up-front in cash so the manufacturer (if we can use such a word) can buy the parts at Maplins before assembling the entertainment devices. The games are developed by one, two, or possibly even three people in a back bedroom in the Midlands, commercial premises are never used to develop games simply because they're not needed. In fact the very word 'commercial' is enough to turn the afficionado's stomach, sullying our higher calling with base concepts such as money. These games are advertised by word-of-mouth and take years to build-up following; the videogame fan will never rush out on release day to buy a newly released title, rather they will let it mature like a fine wine and savour the critiques from other gamers over years before finally deciding to purchase. Such was Bioshock's case.

    Curse Nintendo, they have destroyed gaming and brought the mass-market to our until-now hidden and beautiful hobby.
    Edited by 1 at 15/01/09 @ 09:46
  • gelf #78 3 years ago

    @Aspic
    Indeed.. back when a was a major Sega zealot in the days of the Saturn, I actually recall regularly complaining(and seeing others complaining) about the PS1 for bringing in those pesky casual gamers and for the amount of shite it had on it and that the Saturn was the true "hardcore" console.

    This casual vs hardcore thing has being going on forever. What's classed as hardcore has changed an awful lot since those days though.
  • nippy58 #79 3 years ago

    Opera is Crap! (unless you are wierd)
    Classical Music is Crap! (most of the time)
    Pop Music is Crap! (if you are over 40)
    Larger is crap (if you are over 30)
    Wine is crap (if you are under 30)
    Pubs Are Crap! (if you are a boring sod)
    Getting Pissed is Crap! (if you come from another planet)
    Xbox is Crap! (if you are sexually inept - well ok if you fall into any of the following)
    Ps3 is Crap!(if you cant afford one)
    Wii is Crap! (if you are a geek)
    Everything is CRAP to someone - you just cant assume that because you dont like it others wont.

    Eurogamer - you need to come to terms with the fact that gaming has changed since 2006 and you probably need to get your Grannies to review your Wii titles cos lets face it anyone who has the mildest streak of geek in their jeans will not be able to appreciate games like Carnival.

    From a Geeky Xbox loving Piss head ;-)



  • Dan234 #80 3 years ago

    Sorry, I don't. As I'm sure neither do the people who bought a PS3 and Buzz or Singstar, the 360 and its equivalents, or a Wii and Mario Galaxy / World of Goo.
  • Lupaie #81 3 years ago

    uhm...I thought you were serious journalist..dont you have to be neutral....and only judge on games during reviews/previews. Let the fanboys discuss this man's quotes and link them to his own badly reviewed games. I dont think its your job to start dissing (albe it true) in normal newposts.
  • spudsbuckley #82 3 years ago

    uhm...I thought you were serious journalist..dont you have to be neutral....and only judge on games during reviews/previews. Let the fanboys discuss this man's quotes and link them to his own badly reviewed games. I dont think its your job to start dissing (albe it true) in normal newposts.

    That's where your wrong, see.

    She's a shit journalist. Token quirky hole.
  • jaffacakes #83 3 years ago

    Wow, spudsbuckley. Are you the forum's token prick?

    So someone ripped apart a press release from some hypocritical industry twonk instead of just repeating it verbatim as if it were news...kinda the whole fragging point of being a journo, isn't it? Admittedly, it's an unusual move, given how few journos do anything more than a cut'n'paste on PRs, but only a knuckle-dragging missing link would think it was 'shit' journalism.

    Oh wait...
  • spudsbuckley #84 3 years ago

    Well it's nice to see the EG defence force are still up and about at this late hour :D

    Seriously though, reporting news about news from another publication from last Friday is hardly great journalism now is it. Also, i'll glady take the title of token prick. It doesn't stop Ellie from being a terrible videogame journalist. She seems to have little or no interest in the subject matter and spends too much time trying to be 'funny'.

    I was a huge pro-EG guy about 2 years ago but now it's gotten really shitty. It seems to have a split personality between wanting to be Edge (too much love for indie/artsy games just for the sake of being different and too cool for the room) or IGN (retarded celeb interviews, face-off articles, poor/late reporting of actual news). I just want it to go back to being the EG that i knew and loved.

    At least the forums are still as great as ever. They never caught the Gamefaq bug, thankfully.